The present invention relates to a knee pad for athletes which has a cushion part which covers the front and side of the knee and fastening means which surround parts of the thigh and lower leg in the region of the knee.
Such knee pads are used in sports in which the athlete must expect regular contact with the ground, particularly in indoor sports such as volleyball and handball. In addition to the elbow, for which special pads of different type of construction are used, the knee, with its various exposed places which will be discussed further below, is particularly sensitive to injury and pain. Knee pads of this type, such as sold for instance by the applicant under the name "protection indoor knee pad" have at least cushioned regions which surround the knee cap (patella), the lateral and medial epicondyles of the thigh bone on the side of the knee cap, the tubercle of the tibia lying below the knee cap on the shinbone (tibia), and the lateral and medial condyles lying to the side thereof. The head of the calf bone (fibula) is preferably also cushioned. In order to be able to hold the cushioned region against the knee even when the knee is bent, the cushion part in the above-mentioned knee pads is divided, in checker form, into individual cushions. The fastening to the knee is effected by a stocking part, the individual cushions being inserted into the stocking part between two layers of textile.
The disadvantage of knee pads of this type is that rubbing movements are necessarily produced between the cushion region and the skin upon the bending of the knee. This is due to the fact that the knee experiences an extension in front in the longitudinal center line, i.e. a connecting line between fixed points on the thigh on the one hand and the shinbone on the other hand is lengthened upon the bending of the knee and shortened upon an extension of the knee. Furthermore, there are corresponding shortenings in the hollow of the knee, i.e. a connecting line between fixed points on the rear of the thigh and on the calf is shortened upon the bending of the knee and lengthened upon the extension of the knee. The elasticity of the material cannot completely compensate for this. Thus, the cushions shift with respect to the underlying regions of the knee which are to be protected, so that optimum protection is obtained only in given positions of the knee. The continuous relative movements can furthermore have the result that the entire knee pad slips into a position in which optimal protection is no longer possible.